1 82 INSECT ARTIZANS AND THEIR WORK 



clothe itself." How little ground he had for that 

 assertion will be seen in what follows. 



These insect tailors differ from human tailors in 

 the fact that they are only concerned in clothing 

 themselves. They may be considered in two 

 distinct groups : (a) those that obtain their ma- 

 terials from their food-plants or bits of the im- 

 mediate surroundings of their feeding-ground, and 

 (b) those that rely upon their own secretions or 

 excretions. 



As in the case of the Spinners and Weavers, it is 

 among the caterpillars of the moths that we find 

 the most numerous examples of the first group, 

 their succulence making them desirable prey to 

 all kinds of insectivorous creatures, and their 

 feeding-grounds, being the foliage of plants, expose 

 them to the attack of their enemies. In conse- 

 quence many caterpillars adopt the elementary 

 precaution of lightly spinning together two leaves 

 of their food-plant, so as to enable them to feed 

 in secret. An advance upon this plan has been 

 adopted by species having a better knowledge of 

 mechanics. These roll up the leaf from one edge 

 into a cylinder of several thicknesses whose shape 

 is retained by a few silken threads, and in this 

 they feed upon the inner coils. 



But this is only primitive tailoring, like that of 

 the human savage who clothes himself by wrapping 

 his body in the untrimmed and unsewn skin of 

 the beast he has slain in the chase. What we 

 understand by insect tailoring involves the use of 



